Kentucky: McConnell Fundraises Off Secret Recording

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign is raising money off a secret recording of their February strategy meetings — as the Kentucky Republican’s aides reached out to the FBI to investigate it.

“Breaking: Liberals Wiretap McConnell’s Office: Stand with Senator McConnell against the liberal media’s illegal and underhanded tactics,” reads the fundraising page from McConnell’s campaign, referring to the recording that appeared in Mother Jones on Tuesday.

McConnell’s campaign, known as “Team Mitch,” launched a promoted tweet Tuesday morning that sends supporters to a new page on the campaign website where donations can be made.

“The liberal left is exposed for illegally wiretapping our campaign HQ,” the campaign wrote on Twitter. “Stand with Sen. McConnell against this.”

Reached for comment, McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton said the campaign plans “to use many avenues to let people of good conscience know about the disgusting, illegal tactics of the far-left.”

Separately, the McConnell campaign announced Tuesday that it raised $1.8 million in the first quarter of the cycle and ended March with $8.6 million in the bank.

The recording of the campaign meeting discussing opposition research on potential opponents was reported by Mother Jones, a liberal magazine. The Feb. 2 recordings included discussions about actress Ashley Judd, who ultimately opted against running, and Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, who is now McConnell’s most likely opponent.